This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Glunde, K. Articles by Bhujwalla, Z. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Glunde, K. Articles by Bhujwalla, Z. M.

Hypoxia Regulates Choline Kinase Expression through Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1 Signaling in a Human Prostate Cancer Model

Johns Hopkins University In Vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging Center Program, Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland

Requests for reprints: Zaver M. Bhujwalla, Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 208C Traylor Building, 720 Rutland Avenue, Baltimore, MD 21205. Phone: 410-955-9698; Fax: 410-614-1948; E-mail: zaver{at}mri.jhu.edu.

The intensity of the total choline (tCho) signal in spectroscopic images of tumors is spatially heterogeneous. The likewise heterogeneous physiologic tumor microenvironment may contribute to this heterogeneity. We therefore investigated the relationship between hypoxia, choline metabolites, and choline kinase (Chk) in a human prostate cancer model. Human PC-3 prostate cancer cells were engineered to express enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) under hypoxic conditions. These PC-3-5HRE-EGFP cells were characterized in culture and as tumors transplanted in mice using ¹H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and MRS imaging (MRSI) combined with EGFP fluorescence microscopy and imaging. Hypoxic EGFP-fluorescing tumor regions colocalized with regions of high tCho in combined MRSI and optical imaging studies. Cellular phosphocholine (PC) and tCho concentrations as well as Chk expression levels significantly increased following exposure of PC-3 cells to hypoxia. A putative promoter region located 5' of the translation start site of the human chk- gene was cloned and luciferase (Luc)-based reporter vector constructs were generated. Luc reporter assays provided evidence that some of the putative hypoxia response elements (HRE) within this putative chk- promoter region functioned in vitro. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays using an antibody against hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1 showed that HIF-1 can directly bind this region of the endogenous chk- promoter in hypoxic PC-3-5HRE-EGFP cells. These data suggest that HIF-1 activation of HREs within the putative chk- promoter region can increase Chk- expression within hypoxic environments, consequently increasing cellular PC and tCho levels within these environments. [Cancer Res 2008;68(1):172–80]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				F. He, X. Deng, B. Wen, Y. Liu, X. Sun, L. Xing, A. Minami, Y. Huang, Q. Chen, P. B. Zanzonico, et al. Noninvasive Molecular Imaging of Hypoxia in Human Xenografts: Comparing Hypoxia-Induced Gene Expression with Endogenous and Exogenous Hypoxia Markers Cancer Res., October 15, 2008; 68(20): 8597 - 8606. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]